on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Rating: 4/5
Pages: 400
Started: 24 May 2024
Finished: 28 May 2024
Summary:
When commercial flight 2977 crashes, killing families and businessmen, grandfathers and pregnant women all on their way to Los Angeles, only one person survives-- a twelve year old boy named Edward. Left with broken bones, PTSD, heartwrenching grief for his parents and older brother, and a perverse celebrity status because of his survival, a depressed and hopeless Edward eventually moves into his childless aunt and uncle's house. The only thing that seems to give him any respite is spending time with Shay, a girl his age who lives next door. When Edward discovers bags of unopened letters from families of those who died in the plane crash all addressed to him, the two friends decide to address Edward's past by responding to the others who are also grieving.
Thoughts:
Everything about this book was magical, aside from the ending. I loved Edward's narration; his voice, impacted by grief and trauma but at points still very youthful and hopeful, was realistic and touching. The alternating chapters which told both Edward's story and the story of the plane crash were well structured, and paced in a way that kept the reader extremely engaged. Individual and mundane stories seemed important, and the perfect amount of detail and information was revealed at the perfect time. I also really liked the other characters; Shay in particular, as well as Benjamin, the soldier on the plane, were fascinating. Grief was well-depicted, and the climax of the novel was touching.
But the end. There was very minimal romantic tension between Shay and Edward throughout the book. They were best friends. They cared for each other, they kept each other going, they loved each other. But it did not have to be explicitly romantic! The romance was also achieved via a kiss in the last paragraph, which felt uneven and tacked-on. Even if they were going to eventually get married, I wish the novel had ended with the scene of satisfaction and love and healing, just without the making-out part.
However, even with the horrendous end, this was a great book, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for an engaging and grief-centric realistic fiction novel.